9th September 2012:
An amazing scenery, a windy but cheerful ambiance and a fantastic team of 20 motivated persons…we had a great combination to make a success of our first clean up at Mahebourg. Located in the southern part of the island, the old town, known for its famous Musée de Mahebourg, is a striking example of simplicity and calm.
Its inhabitants were attentive to our group, watching us wander around in our clean up, as we started from the Mahebourg Waterfront and strolled back in town, whilst collecting all bits of plastic we encountered. At first glance we thought we would have to include the neighbourhood of Mahebourg in our cleanup as the town seemed relatively clean. However, to our shock, we spent three hours cleaning up the waterfront and part of a street over two blocks of houses. For the first time in a cleanup activity by ToptoTop Mauritius, we spent so much time on such a short distance. We gathered 17 bags of plastic waste!
This activity was very special for it was jointly organised with the help of inhabitants of Mahebourg; Siva Pareemanen, Arvin Lifor, Manoj Baboolall, Ashive Kanoosingh, Ovilen Dorasami and Kamlesh Sooram and who are new recruits of ToptoTop Mauritius. We were supported in our initiative by a group of young volunteers from the Groupe 40 from Curepipe who were fantastic in their enthusiasm and determination: Ashley Pierre, Yannick Casquette, Sabrina Achille, Rosabelle Fanny, Anne Lise Huet, Aurelie Mardiapoulle, Stephanie Tickfire, Lucilla and their friends are beautiful persons and they generously gave of their time and energy to make Mahebourg a cleaner place. They are keen to participate in ToptoTop clean ups.
We also had the opportunity to discuss with local inhabitants on the importance of keeping their environment clean for their children and families. A group of young kids from primary school were interested in our activity and are keen to join us in clean ups in the neighbourhood.
We had a beautiful day, and everyone left Mahebourg on a note of happiness. This feeling of satisfaction was shared by all of us. “Ce fut une belle journée, j’ai bien ramassé les ordures à Mahebourg. Je ne pensais pas que c’était si mal entretenue car je fréquente cet endroit depuis ma petite enfance. Pendant ma traversée dans les rues, les gens se sont mêmes rapprochés pour demander ce que nous faisions et d’où nous venons. C’était aussi un temps de sensibilisation pour les Mahebourgeois car ils ont pu s’apercevoir par notre geste, qu’ils polluent l’environnement. Je suis très contente car j’ai pu faire passer le message à tout le monde – en ce cas, l’importance de garder l’environnement propre. Hâte d’être à la prochaine mission. Belle expérience de vie d’avoir travaillé avec les ONG. Bonne continuation »-Sabrina Achille, Groupe 40.
Kamlesh Sooram : ” We had a great time and the objectives of ToptoTop are awesome.”
“C’était une super journée. J’ai découvert que des petits efforts faisaient grand bien à l’environnement de mon pays et de ma région. ” Stéphanie Tickfire, Groupe 40.
Dario, ToptoTop Mauritius : “Today’s activity was awesome. In about two hours we collected about 17 bags of plastic waste. It may seem little, but to eat an elephant, its one bite at a time.”
Michael, ToptoTop Mauritius: ” Nice day. Very enthusiastic.”